Tobias Sylvester
A 17-year-old girl has dragged her 72-year-old father, Ibrahim Danlami Yunusa, before Chief Magistrate Court 10 in Gombe for allegedly raping her several times, which resulted to her pregnancy.
Yunusa, a resident of Dadin Kowa town in Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, was arraigned on a two-count charge under Sections 390 and 282 of the Penal Code for allegedly having carnal knowledge of his 17-year-old daughter on several occasions sometimes last year and early this year.
Apart from her father, the teenaged girl also accused her elder brother who is now at large of raping her repeatedly between December 2018 and January 2019, which led to her eight months pregnancy.
Pleading her case before the Bolari Area Court which was filed in September, the 17-year-old girl said her father started having affair with her after she reported to him that her elder brother, Yusuf, was sneaking into her room in the night to have carnal knowledge of her.
She further said whenever she attempted to resist the illicit affair with her father, he threatened to disown her.
The helpless victim told North East Trust that she decided to report the duo to court when she noticed that she has conceived a child and both of them refused to take responsibility.
“My father and my brother have slept with me several times which led to this eight-month pregnancy. I informed them and all declined to take responsibility, therefore I decided to report them to court,” she said.
When asked by the Bolari Area Court, the father denied the allegation. According to him, a taxi driver that once had an affair with his daughter should be held responsible for the pregnancy.
Ibrahim Yunusa also absolved his son from the allegation, saying when the girl’s pregnancy was confirmed, her brother was not in town.
He, however, confirmed that she once informed him that her elder brother was sleeping with her. He further told the court that he gave the girl’s mother, who was his ex-wife, money to abort the pregnancy.
However, when the accused person appeared before the court, state counsel, Yakubu Gombe Ahmad, said the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case under Section 211 (2) of 1999 constitution as amended.
Therefore, the court handed over the case to the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for proper investigation of the case.
Daurabo Suleiman Sikam, who presided over the case at Chief Magistrate Court 10, adjourned the case until November 13, to allow police to conclude their investigation and seek legal advice from the state’s Ministry of Justice.
She also ordered the accused person to be remanded in prison custody.
The man used food as bait to get the girls to consent to his amorous desire, and whenever the children objected, he would refer to Lot in the Bible, who had sex with his daughters and was not punished by God.
